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Wednesday, 16 January 2013

Theology 101 - Why is Theology Important?

In the last post we established that theology
concerns itself with speech about
God, with the speech of God, and with
the variety of experiences that are said to derive from Him. This is theology according to its most general
definition. Rendered this way, theological reflection would also include the
psychology, sociology and philosophy of religion, as well as the study of any
and all faiths and not just Christianity.

For our purposes, however, we are concerned
with distinctively Christian
theology. More specifically, we are concerned with Christian theology as an
intellectual discipline of study. [1]
We may engage in this discipline within the academy or the Church, or on a
purely private basis. Wherever we choose to encounter this discipline, we
should first pause to ask the question: why
is it important to study Christian theology at all?

This question is not easily answered. After
all, theological study has not always been the friend of faith. Although it can
be personally invigorating and intellectually refreshing, the study of theology
can also be used in an unkind and unhelpful fashion. [2] I’m aware that this is a very real and present danger. However,
I’m also convinced that theological study is immensely satisfying and
increasingly necessary. Allow me to suggest seven reasons why this is the case.

First,
Christian theology is personally beneficial. It’s not necessarily true that the study of
faith increases one’s own beliefs. Not in the slightest. But from my experience
and that of many others, the study of theology has been a substantial blessing.
Not only because it paints a big picture that satisfies, but also because it
girds you with rock-solid truths that can be used to comfort you when times are
tough. When things are less difficult, those same truths help to shape and
crystallise your knowledge of God, leading you to worship Him. [3]

Second,
Christian theology is pastorally helpful. In the same way that theological study can help you as an individual it
can also assist you in your helping of others. To know truth, and to know it
well, is to be able to administer it when appropriate. Of course, it’s not the
case that all theologians are good pastors. The study of theology will not
necessarily transform you into a ‘people person’. (You will have to work on
that separately, I’m afraid.) But it is true that all of us are called to
console with the consolation we have ourselves received (2 Cor 1:3-4), to mourn
with those who mourn (Rom 12:15), and to bear one another’s burdens (Gal 6:2).
You can obviously do this without being a theologian. But being a theologian
can help you understand the nature and order of a problem, primarily because
theological study can help you arrange human reality according to the reality
of God. In a pastoral context, this can be of great value.

Third,
Christian theology is ecclesially vital. In line with what we established last time, all of us are theologians.
This is especially true of Churches. All expressions of Church assume
theological distinctives, even those that don’t bother with being
‘theological’. Every decision made will beg a question of theology, even if the
decisions are utterly mundane. For example, choosing to allow the non-baptised
to take communion may or may not be ‘correct’, but it presumes something about
the nature of the sacraments and the purpose of Church. Deciding to sing
anything other than the Psalms may or may not be ‘right’, but it presumes
something about what worship is and how we should use the Bible. Resolving to
be an established Church with a formal connection with the State may or may not
be ‘good’, but it presumes something about how we should understand politics
and the Kingdom of God. These are just three examples, but they illustrate how
the Church cannot divorce itself from theological reflection. Indeed, it is the
Church’s job to do theology and
theology should be, in its very essence, ecclesial.

Fourth,
Christian theology is publically confrontational. It is designed for challenge and conflict
chiefly on account of theology’s subject matter – He who is Lord of Lords. To
study theology is to study matters of the Kingdom of God, and to come to terms
with its authority over all other authorities. The theologian’s mandate is
electrifyingly exciting. It is not simply to maintain consistency with regards
preaching and practice; it’s much more than that. The theologian is tasked with
informing the Church’s confession to society and government, offering a reminder
of our accountability before a Holy God. [4]
Christian theology has something vital to contribute not only to the academy
and the Church, but also to society at large.

Fifth,
Christian theology is apologetically useful. Given the purpose of this blog, it’s appropriate that I observe
theology’s utility for those interested in apologetics. We’ll talk more about
this in a later post. For now, let’s put it really simply: you cannot
successfully defend that which you do not know well.

Sixth,
Christian theology is intellectually necessary. By ‘necessary’, I don’t mean that everyone
must become an academic theologian. I simply refer to the inevitability that
you’re eventually going to speak about God, and if you’re a Christian, you will
want to speak truthfully concerning Him. In order to do so, you will invariably
participate in theological reflection. The study of Christian theology helps us
in this unavoidable process.

Seventh,
Christian theology is worship. Recall
our definition of theology – it is concerned with our speech about God. When we
endeavour to speak about Him with accuracy, we give Him glory. As Jesus said,
God is to be worshipped in Spirit and in truth (John 4:23). This isn’t an
automatic connection; obviously, not all theologians study in a manner that
honours God. But it is an option that is open to you. It is possible that if
you choose to study theology, you can also choose to make it a worshipful
process. This is true of all human activity, but especially so of theological
reflection, which has us meditate on that which is Godly.

For these reasons, I insist that the study of
Christian theology is important. It possesses pastoral and apologetic utility,
and it can help inform the Church’s mission. It carries the exciting
possibility of public engagement as well as the potential for personal
blessing.

Next time: The Sources of Theology

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[1] It is not exactly clear, however, what type of discipline theology is. As
perplexing as it may be to us today, theology has historically been considered
a science. (E.g. Aquinas, Summa Theologia 1.1.2; and Barth, Church Dogmatics §1.1.) Our difficulty
in embracing theology as a ‘science’ likely stems from a relatively narrow
understanding of what makes something ‘scientific’. We take the word to refer
exclusively to the natural sciences, such as biology, chemistry and physics. The
word, however, derives from the Latin term scientia,
which simply means ‘knowledge’. Within this umbrella category we would include
the natural sciences, but we may also include other critical disciplines whose
objects of study include different realities of human existence. In German,
these disciplines are referred to as Geisteswissenschaften
– the ‘human sciences’. The study of history, language and philosophy would be
counted as a ‘human science’, and so would theology. For more on this
distinction, see the beginning of Macquarrie’s Principles of Christian Theology (1977, SCM Press).

[2]
In his Little Exercise for Young
Theologians (1962), Helmut Thielicke writes about this very problem. He
gives the example of a faithful but theologically naïve medical student who suffers
at the hands of two theologians whilst in a Bible study. Instead of aiding his
understanding they harangue him and make him feel stupid. The medical student
says of his encounter: “Although my fate and my life were at stake, those
others came at me with their routine. I found in them no trace of life or
truths learned by experience. I smelled only corpses of lifeless ideas. … I was
looking for a Christian in whom I could detect a flame. I found only burnt out
slag”.

[3] Many of the reasons I
suggest here are pertinent to those who study theology with a Christian faith.
Does this mean that the study of theology is unnecessary for those who do not
believe? Not necessarily. A non-believer would want to study Christian theology
to know what she does not believe.
There is no virtue in disbelieving a caricature. One may also propose that a
secular intellectual should value and cherish truth, in whatever form. To study
Christian theology with an aim to accumulate knowledge concerning its history,
politics and phenomenology is to be applauded. At the very least, it is
possible to study Christian theology hypothetically
– using one’s imagination to put oneself in the place of a believer. (On this
notion, see Brian Hebblethwaite’s The
Problems of Theology [1980].) It is therefore possible and desirable for a
non-Christian to study Christian theology.

[4] This notion of Christian
theology being publically confrontational is not at all novel. The first
hearers of the Gospel were recorded as having noticed its counter-cultural and
controversial message (e.g. Acts 17:6-7). The revolution of the Reformation was
notable not only for its theological changes but also for its social and
political dimensions (e.g. Calvin’s Institutes
IV.XX). More recently, the 20th Century theologians Karl Barth and
Dietrich Bonhoeffer were amongst the authors of the Barmen Declaration of 1934 – a confession that set itself against
the Nazification of the German Church. Bonhoeffer himself was executed by the
Nazis towards the end of the war, precisely on account of his theologically
informed opposition to Hitler.